It’s not very often that I weigh in on my site personally.  However, after getting back from the Performance Racing Industry tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, I thought I would share my experiences.  We attended PRI on behalf of RAD (Race Against Drugs) and brought our show car down to put on display.

PRI for Onderko Motorsports started on Nov 28 as we left Pennsylvania headed for Orlando.  It was an uneventful trip, but it was odd to be hauling a racecar and not actually going to race it.  We rolled into the Orlando convention center, and we unloaded the car and finally got to meet Sharon, Gail, and Jenni- the driving force behind all of the good that happens with RAD.  We rolled the racecar into to its new parking spot for the next few days and helped finish up.

PRI did a great job of putting on the show, with over 2,500 exhibitors and a reported 30,000 people who visited the event.  I have never seen so much to do about Motorsports in one place.  We met and talked to many different people in the industry.  One of the coolest things that I was able to attend, was the PRI Roundtable.  Originally developed by the great Smokey Yunick, the roundtable is a unique way for racing business people to openly discuss critical issues in racing today.  Jeff Hammond, Former NASCAR crew chief, was the moderator, and in attendance on the panel were; Robin Miller, race journalist, SpeedTV- Dennis Huth, President of ASA- Gill Campbell, CEO & general manager of Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca- Carl Wegner, founder of Wegner Motorsports, oval track race engine builder- Gray Garrison, Promoter for Bowman Gray Stadium- Hugh Scully, MD, chairman of the International Council of Motorsports Sciences, prestigious race safety organization- Scooter Brothers, director of R&D and part-owner of Competition Cams, and organizer of the AETC, chairman of SEMA- Ray Wilkings, general manager of NHRA’s Atlanta Dragway- Brian Carter, CEO, World Racing Group.  A variety of topics were covered, and the panel took questions from the audience.

As we plan to compete in the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 Series next year, I was able to meet the Owner/CEO of the series, Dan Anderson.  Mr. Anderson and I talked about the series in general, the directions of certain teams, and ways to promote Onderko Motorsports and the USF2000 Series itself.  The Series had several representatives at PRI, from the front office, as well as a few drivers.  We were also interviewed by Joe Castello, he is a seasoned radio veteran, he comes from XM and Sirius satellite radio networks.  Joe is starting a new venture on the WFO.com radio network.  He had us on his show on Saturday, and we had a great time spending some time with him.

Quite a few other RAD racers were down to represent RAD as well, it was nice to meet them and swap stories about what we do.  Racers are racers, and it doesn’t matter what you race, we are all part of one big family.  We talked about the previous year, and our plans for next year.  We wished each other well, and parted ways until next year.  I got to meet and talk to quite a few people from the industry during my time down at PRI.  On a personal note, I got to talk to a guy by the name of Robin Miller.  For those of you who don’t know of Robin, he covers open wheel racing and is very honest in his opinions.  I’ve grown up watching him cover the sport, and one day, I hope he writes a story about me.